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Drawings Part one

        Drawings Part One

Attempting to define a term in the art world is problematical because vocal influential people resist restrictions imposed by a definition.  So, instead of a definition, we will discuss usual expectations of a drawing.  A stroking tool is used such as pencil, pen, chalk, crayon, oil stick, gouge, or scratch.  Each of these make a trail of consistent width.  

    Kinds of Marks

Drawing strokes can be line segments, dots, checks, curves or curly cues.  Often there is unworked space on the sheet, which is usually paper.  See the van Gogh drawing ‒ The Sower ‒ with a wide variety of marks.  How many different kinds can you identify?  How many colors of ink?  Note, the ink can also shift color with age.

            


 Contrary to many artists who make a preliminary drawing, van Gogh finished a painting then made a drawing based on the painting to send in a letter to a friend to show him a drawn version of the painting.



    Urban Sketchers

Another category of drawings are those popular with urban sketchers.  They make a sketch usually with a black waterproof pen, then fill in enclosed areas with watercolor. 

There are organizations of Urban Sketchers around the world easily found by internet search.  Illustrated books on Urban Sketching are found in public library systems.  The urban sketch is made by direct observation under time pressure hence has forceful freshness and spontaneity.

                                 

                 Abstract Drawing

An abstract drawing can be simple and effective.  See the drawing by Steve Keister made with yellow ochre and black crayons.  It is an example of one of the artwork donations made by the couple Dorothy and Herbert Vogel.  They had a modest income but judiciously, over decades, bought art directly from artists who they were friendly with.

                                     


   

The Vogels concentrated on acquiring drawings.  That was unprecedented, forward thinking,  and helped budget wise.  From their collection, they gave 50 art works to museums in each of the 50 U.S. states.  See the website of their foundation https://vogel5050.org.  Their story was featured on the 60 Minutes television show.  

In the Keister drawing, do the black lines look closer or further away than the yellow ones?  Can you choose to see the drawing as 2D or 3D?  Notice its rough-shod spontaneous appearance.  

On a work made to look perfect, the tiniest blemish will detract.  But Keister’s drawing looks all-of-a-piece since no perfection was intended.  Notice, the lines extend a little bit past intersection points.  What does that do esthetically or psychologically for you?

Keister also makes what he calls USOs, that is, unknown suspended objects.  He makes them of different materials, shapes, and colors.  Some have openings so light can enter then bounce out to be seen in glimpses. 


        


 In this one, does that ribbed material give the effect of drawn strokes?  How many openings do you think it has?  Do you think it would look better with something other than the ribbed material?  Why?  What would you suggest?  How hard is it to predict an effect without actually making the change?



 

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